Pitoniak: Boeheim needs to accept blame

Pitoniak: Boeheim needs to accept blame

Jim Boeheim claims he meant it as a joke, but nobody was laughing. Least of all
Syracuse University basketball fans who were hoping for once, just once, that
the Hall of Fame basketball coach might assume at least some of the blame for
his team's late-season collapse.

The "I'm pretty much
ready to go play some golf" line went over like a Georgetown ticker-tape parade
through downtown Syracuse. The trademark sarcastic Boeheim remark was the last
thing people wanted to hear after the Orange men managed just 39 points - the
lowest total by an SU hoops team since JFK was in the White House - in a
regular-season-ending loss to the Hoyas Saturday. Syracuse has limped to the
finish line with four losses in its last five games and seven in its last
12.

It's become pretty
obvious that Boeheim has lost this team, and he doesn't have an answer to snap
it out of its offensive lethargy.

We've sung Boeheim's
praises as a great basketball coach through the years, and one disappointing
season certainly doesn't diminish what he's achieved over 37 years. Although the
flurry of mindless tweets and chat room posts suggest otherwise, Boeheim will
still go down as one of the finest coaches in college history. But past
achievements do not make him immune to legitimate criticism for the poor job
he's done with this year's team.

The most disturbing
thing about this Orange edition is the lack of player development. Other than
C.J. Fair, who on this team has really shown marked improvement? Yes,
ultimately, it is the responsibility of the individual player to do the things
necessary to improve. But when you are dealing with impressionable and often
fragile 18- to-22-year-old athletes in need of guidance, much of the onus falls
on the ability of a head coach and his staff to provide direction.

This team has no true
take-charge guy, no real leader. Brandon Triche and James Southerland are
seniors who were supposed to fill the void left by the graduation of Scoop
Jardine and Kris Joseph. But they've saved their worst for last. They can't lead
themselves at this point, let alone others.

Michael Carter-Williams
started out like gang-busters, averaging more than 10 assists per game, but,
with the exception of a decent performance Saturday, he's been brought back down
to Earth by the rugged defenses of the Big East. Any scout who believes MCW is
ready for the NBA really needs to have his head examined.

James Southerland has
proven to be a one-trick pony. Jacking them up from the outside has been his
specialty, but he hasn't exactly been a world-beater at that, as evidenced by
his zero-for-eight effort against the Hoyas.

The team's Achilles
heel remains the center position, where former McDonald's All-American Rakeem
Christmas doesn't look much advanced over the player who first showed up on
campus two years ago.

Trevor Cooney, the
red-shirt freshman shooting guard, continues to battle the yips with his outside
shooting.

I'll give a pass to
forward Jerami Grant, whom I think will be a special player before all is said
and done, and center/forward Dajuan Coleman because they are freshmen, and
first-year players often struggle at this level.

After the loss to
Louisville in the Carrier Dome two Saturdays ago, Boeheim said he still liked
this team, still thought it might be a good tournament team.

I wonder if he still
feels that way. Or if he was talking about the NIT.

The Orange men have a
winnable game Wednesday in the opening round of the Big East tournament. If they
get past that one, they face Pitt. And then it would be a third meeting vs.
Georgetown, which has limited them to a total of 84 points in two
games.

Most bracketologists
have SU as a fifth seed in the NCAAs, and if the Cuse were bounced in the first
game of the Big East it could be looking at a sixth seed.

Either way, the Orange
men are going to have a tough time going very deep. I see them losing in the
second round, and I wouldn't be shocked at all if they were one and
done.

They just aren't a very
good basketball team.

And some of the blame
has to fall on Boeheim, who definitely will be able to break out the clubs
sooner than normal this March.

Author and
columnist Scott Pitoniak has followed SU hoops since the mid-1960s and has
covered them since the mid-1970s. He is author of "Color Him Orange: The Jim
Boeheim Story." You can read more of his stuff at www.scottpitoniak.com.